The Dayplanner and the Undiagnosable: An Anthology
by arliddian
Summary: A collection of unconnected Annie/Abed one-shots. NEW: To Have a Friend - Middle school AU. Abed and Annie bond over lunch.
1. Sunlight

**Sunlight**

* * *

**Summary: **Abed, Annie, and an early morning.  
**Author's Note:** I picked up an Annie/Abed prompt table! Every new 'chapter' is a standalone one-shot written for a specific prompt.  
**Prompt: **'sunlight'.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own it; don't sue me.

* * *

_...the daylight seems to want you just as much as I want you_ - Crack the Shutters, Snow Patrol

Establishing shot of a window. Sunlight filters through gauzy curtains. The camera pans sideways, revealing a young woman asleep on a bed. The sheets are tangled over her body, though one leg peeks out. The soft early morning light highlights her pale skin; shadows play in the folds of the bedclothes.

Zoom to a close-up on her face, which is cast in shadow from the arm flung over her head. Gradually pan down her body as she turns her face from the window and stretches. The movement has revealed more of her bare thigh and the shot lingers on her skin, the top of her shorts just visible. Pan back to her face. Her lips part; her eyelids flutter and slowly open. A few seconds pass and then her gaze focuses on the camera.

"Abed!" she yelps.

Quick zoom out to a medium shot as she bolts upright and pulls the sheets high around her body.

"What are you _doing_?" she exclaims, glaring slightly beyond the lens to the person operating the camera. Her gaze flickers to the camera and back again. Seated as she is, now closer to the window, her whole body is bathed in gentle light. It gives a golden gleam to her tousled brown hair.

The disembodied voice of the cameraman responds in a flat, matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm filming different scenes to experiment with lighting. This one is _Annie in sunlight, 6:30am_. I already got _Annie during sunrise_."

She sighs - an exasperated, resigned noise. Her grip on the sheets loosens; they fall to her waist.

"You've been filming since sunrise?"

"I woke up early and the lighting was perfect. You make a good subject. I wanted to capture that."

Slow zoom to medium close-up. The look of exasperation on her face fades away and her expression visibly softens, a small smile curving her lips.

"Is it really 6:30?" she asks finally, stifling a yawn and adjusting the strap of her camisole.

"Yes."

"Then it's too early to be up."

Zoom out a little further as she sinks down and rolls onto her side, facing away from the camera.

Her voice is slightly muffled. "You should stop filming me and come back to bed."

Six seconds of silence. Then -

"Okay."

There is a slight rustling, the sound of movement. The cameraman moves into frame. He is long and lanky and too tall for this shot: at first all that is visible is his rumpled t-shirt and the top half of his pyjama pants.

He pulls back the sheets and clambers in next to her, his back to the camera and one hand resting on her hip. The angle of the shot is awkward, but it's enough to show her lifting his hand and pulling him forward. She wraps his arm around her waist and nestles back into him.

"There," comes her low murmur. "Much better."

"Cool."

End scene.

_Fin_


	2. Manipulating a Dream

**Manipulating a Dream**

* * *

**Summary: **Knowledge is power, especially in the Dreamatorium…  
**Author's Note:** I've been watching older episodes recently, and feeling nostalgic for the Annie/Abed-in-character dynamic that popped up every now and then. And then I felt like writing something vaguely angsty.  
**Prompt: **'mimic'.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own it; don't sue me.

* * *

_... I'd rather pretend I'll still be there at the end..._ - The Writer, Ellie Goulding

After the Greendale Hospital School incident, every now and then when Troy is out with Britta, Abed asks Annie if she'd like to join him in the Dreamatorium. She always says yes, clearly pleased and flattered to be invited into this exclusive game. He likes that she throws herself into it whole-heartedly, allowing herself to get caught up in the simulation. He makes sure to render dreamscapes that he knows they'll both enjoy.

The thing is, Abed has a lot of knowledge about Annie, gleaned from years of observing her patterns of behaviour. He knows what she likes, what she dislikes, what makes her tick, what makes her happy. And lately, he's been taking advantage of that knowledge when they're in the Dreamatorium.

He knows that she doesn't like to be the damsel in distress. She's more than capable of holding her own, and she's never content to be a passive female sidekick. He knows that Annie-in-real-life is insecure and uncomfortable about her sexuality, but Annie-playing-a-role often forgets that fact and can play the femme fatale just as well as Rita Hayworth. And he likes it when she forgets - the banter is much more fun that way.

He knows that she falls easily for the James Dean, _Rebel Without a Cause_ type: the lovable rogue with a hidden heart of gold, the cool guy, the dangerous influence, the alpha-male. He knows exactly which characters will make her melt. He knows all the right lines to use, the right buttons to push. A wink and a slightly suggestive compliment will fluster her; stroking her cheek will make her eyelashes flutter. He likes the way she looks at him when he does these things. It's an attractive mixture of surprised and flattered and intrigued that brings a slight flush to her cheeks and a gleam to her eye.

So in the Dreamatorium, he has them re-enact scenes from _Star Wars_, _Indiana Jones_, _Mad Men_, _Firefly_, the _Bond_ films, and 1940s film noir. Or he'll construct original scenarios and let her choose her own character in response to the one he plays, which is usually a vague approximation of Jeff - similar enough to affect her, but not so similar that she figures out what he's doing. He is suave and smooth, reckless and risk-taking, confident and self-assured. Their simulations often involve her character helping his to grow from amoral renegade to reluctant hero, or pit them against each other in a battle of wits and barely-concealed UST.

Their sessions escalate quickly, and almost always end on a romantic moment. More often than not, they end their scenes with a brief and passionate kiss, as if every scenario they run is in some way a homage to the paintball war of 2011. Abed never allows these moments to linger, but shuts down the simulation before Annie can get too emotionally invested. They revert to their normal selves immediately, and leave the room talking about safe, ordinary things.

Abed knows that eventually this will have to stop. Eventually, Jeff will finally make his move on Annie, or Annie's conscience will kick in and tell her that making out with her best friend every other week is probably not a good idea, even if it _is_ all make-believe. Eventually, for one reason or another, their Dreamatorium encounters will cease. He'll stop playing characters and go back to being the Abed he is outside of that room: just Annie's emotionally-unavailable roommate and friend, nothing remotely close to a potential romantic interest.

But for now, he takes what he can get. For now, their games in the Dreamatorium are kept separate and safe from the insistent truth of reality. In that room, for just an hour at a time, he can be the focus of her affections. For just an hour, he can be what she wants, and what she wants him to be.

_Fin_


	3. Obviously

**Obviously**

* * *

**Summary: **Abed has a girlfriend, and if Annie's acting weird, it isn't due to jealousy. Because she's totally fine. Obviously.  
**Author's Note:** To be honest, I really like Rachel. I just like Abed/Annie more…  
**Prompt: **'cloakroom'.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own it; don't sue me.

* * *

_I'm coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine..._ - Mr Brightside, The Killers

The Springtime Save-the-Rainforests dance was really not as much fun as Annie had expected to be. Jeff had gotten caught up in some urgent case work and couldn't come in the end, which meant that their numbers were down to five, and it just didn't feel right to be at a Greendale dance without Jeff and Pierce around. It didn't help that Abed had disappeared almost as soon as they'd arrived. The whole evening had just been so... _flat_.

Troy wandered over to where Annie sat nursing her fifth cup of punch.

"Hey," he said as he plopped down next to her.

"Hey," she replied, flashing him a small smile. "Having fun?"

"I'm so _bored_!" he exclaimed. "Britta and Shirley started arguing about whether celebrating spring is a pagan tradition or giving thanks to Jesus, and they won't stop! Where's Abed?"

Annie made a face and handed him her cup. "I don't know. But Rachel's working the coat check tonight, so I'm guessing he's been hanging out with her."

(If she sounded a little put out, it was because she felt bad that Troy hadn't been able to hang out with his best friend all night, and it had nothing to do with how she felt about Abed having a girlfriend. Which she was totally fine with, anyway. Obviously.)

"Oh, yeah." Troy sighed and took a sip of Annie's punch before handing the cup back. "Maybe we should just go home. If Abed wants to stay, he can get a lift with Shirley, and then you and I can watch _Little Women_ again and I won't lose any man-points."

The idea of curling up on Abed's recliner in her pyjamas and sharing a tissue box with Troy was definitely more appealing than sitting in a corner and watching couples dance and have fun all night.

"Sure," she smiled. "That sounds good to me. I'll just go get my coat and let Abed know."

"Okay. I'll tell Britta and Shirley."

Annie set her half-empty cup on the table and made her way to the cloakroom, thoroughly ready to throw in the towel on this whole evening.

_It'll only get better from here, right?_ she thought, opening the door...

... and immediately walking in on Abed and Rachel, who were wrapped up in a tender lip-lock.

"Oh!" Annie gasped, throwing up a hand to cover her eyes and then immediately lowering it when she realised how stupid the gesture was since they were both fully clothed and not doing anything particularly scandalous.

The couple sprang apart at the sound of her voice.

"Hey, Annie," Abed greeted her, utterly nonplussed.

Rachel smoothed down her hair self-consciously, and Annie noted that _she_ at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Um, hi, Annie."

(If Annie felt rattled, it was just because she'd never actually seen Abed and Rachel _together_ before. He never brought her back to the apartment and rarely talked about her, so it was just weird to see them kissing. It had nothing to do with the fact that Annie had never seen Abed kiss _anyone_ before, except for the time he'd kissed _her_, when it had been brief and passionate and covered in orange paint. And she wasn't thinking about that moment right now. Obviously.)

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Annie apologised awkwardly. "I, uh, I just wanted to get my coat."

"Oh! Yeah, sure. I'll just go grab it."

Rachel disappeared into the rows of jackets and scarves, leaving Annie to smile nervously at Abed and play with her fingers.

"Um, Troy and I are going home early," Annie told him conversationally, wondering why her voice sounded so high and squeaky. "You don't have to come too, though. If you want to stay here with Rachel, I'm sure Britta or Shirley can take you home."

"Cool," was his simple response. He was as calm and unruffled as ever, and clearly unembarrassed at having been caught mid-make-out.

(If she felt a sudden spike of irritation, it was obviously just because Rachel was taking kind of a long time to find her coat, and she didn't want to keep Troy waiting. It had nothing to do with the fact that Annie had been carrying a secret thought in the back of her mind that she was kind of _special_ to Abed, because he'd never really acted in a romantic way towards anyone besides her before, even though he'd been playing a character every time he'd ever shown more-than-platonic interest in her. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she now realised that Rachel was the special one, the one who had managed to capture Abed's attention and move him to actual, genuine romantic feelings.)

Rachel finally rejoined them, Annie's coat in her hands.

"So, you're leaving already?" she asked as she handed it over. "We didn't really get a chance to hang out."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just kind of tired - Britta and Shirley's debates can be kind of exhausting," Annie fibbed, darting a quick glance at Abed. "Plus it looks like you two want some... quality time."

"Oh. Okay." Rachel pushed her glasses up her nose, and when she dropped her hand, it brushed against Abed's.

(If Annie felt a sudden pang of emotion when Abed casually took Rachel's hand in his, it was just because she had been single for months and was feeling a little lonely. It obviously had nothing to do with the way she was remembering all the times he had ever touched _her_ with those long fingers - Don Draper, Han Solo, Batman, simply Abed...)

"Well, I guess I'll see you around?" Rachel finished with a cheerful, friendly smile.

Annie forced an equally friendly smile back as she pulled on her coat. "Sure."

"See you at home," Abed said, with a brief upward quirk of his lips.

"Yep. Have fun." The smile remained fixed on her face as she began to move towards the door. "We, uh, we won't wait up for you!" she added brightly in a feeble attempt at a joke that made her want to cringe as soon as the words left her mouth. "Bye!"

Abed gave a small wave, and Annie made a hasty retreat.

(And if she shut the cloakroom door a little too hard on her way out, it was because the handle slipped out of her fingers. It wasn't because she was jealous. Obviously.)

_Fin_


	4. To Have a Friend

**To Have a Friend**

* * *

**Summary: **Middle school AU. Abed and Annie bond over lunch.  
**Author's Note:** I was trying to write a different Abed/Annie fic that is proving to be something of a runaway train, and then this image popped in my head and wouldn't go away until I wrote it out!  
**Prompt: **'ribbon'.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own it; don't sue me.

* * *

Annie hovered near the door of the cafeteria, clutching her tray and scanning the room. She was faced with the usual dilemma: where should she sit?

Most of the tables were full, and she was too scared to join any of the ones that weren't. Most of them were made up of other sixth-graders who didn't like her. She'd heard some of the girls talking about her in the bathroom once. _She's a suck-up_, one had said. _I know! And she thinks she so smart,_ another had agreed. _Teacher's pet. Know-it-all._ No matter what she did or what she wore or what she said, the names followed her around. She had only been at this school for two months and everyone had already made up their minds about her.

She walked slowly over to a nearby empty table, unable to stop herself from hoping that someone, anyone, would call out to ask her to join them. Nobody did. She sat down with her back to the rest of the cafeteria and tried to pretend she didn't care that she was all alone.

"Hey! Weird kid!"

Annie swung around and shrank back when she saw who had spoken: Jack, a seventh-grader, one of the worst bullies in the school. He was accompanied by two of his buddies. All three of them were tall and mean and scary, and on the very first day of school they had played keep-away with her backpack and laughed at her when she cried.

To her great relief, they marched past her table and continued on to another lone kid a couple of tables down. The boy looked up as they approached. Annie was sitting opposite him and could see his face. He was another seventh-grader, a quiet boy whose name she didn't know. She'd heard other kids talking about how he thought his life was a TV show, but she'd never spoken to him before. He didn't seem all that weird to her.

"Aren't you forgetting something, weird kid?" Jack growled at the boy, pointing a threatening finger. His friends scowled at him with their arms crossed, making them seem somehow bigger and more menacing.

Annie swallowed, anxiety and pity forming a tight ball in her stomach. She was surprised by how calm the boy seemed. There wasn't a single flicker of an expression in his dark eyes.

The boy looked up at Jack, blinked once, and handed over his bagged lunch without a word. Jack snatched it out of his hand and divided it up amongst his cronies immediately. He leaned over and took a big bite out of the boy's sandwich, right in front of his face. Then he laughed with his mouth full and left.

The boy kept staring blankly at the table. Annie looked around, and if anyone else had seen what had happened, they obviously didn't care. She felt her throat tighten. She knew how it felt to be bullied every day, to be ignored and made into an outcast. she looked down at her own lunch, then back at the boy.

Before she could lose the nerve, she picked up her tray and walked quickly over to him.

"Hi," she said shyly. "Can I... Can I sit here?"

He stared at her for a long moment and blinked, but finally said "Okay."

She sat down across from him. After a moment's hesitation, she pushed her tray forward.

"Do you want to share?" she asked, her heart pounding. "I'm, um... I'm not really hungry, and I thought you might..."

Her voice trailed away into nothing as he continued to look at her. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, and she began to panic. What if he hated her like everyone else did?

But before she could apologise and retreat, he reached out and picked up her apple.

"Thank you," he said. The corners of his mouth turned upward for just a second, and Annie relaxed.

"My name's Annie," she offered after a brief pause.

"I'm Abed."

"Nice to meet you, Abed." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

They ate Annie's lunch together in silence, and Annie wondered if this was what it felt like to have a friend.

* * *

The next day in the cafeteria, Annie looked around for Abed, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Her heart sinking, she walked over to an empty table again, resigning herself to yet another lunchtime spent alone.

She was already halfway through her tuna sandwich when Abed slid into the seat opposite her.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi!" she responded happily, sitting up a little straighter. Her smile faded when she took in the big bruise on his cheek. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Abed merely shrugged and said, "It was Jack. Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"Okay," Annie replied doubtfully. Abed didn't _look_ upset, and aside from the bruise, he seemed okay. She decided to let it go, and held out the other cut half of her sandwich to him.

He stared at it with his head slightly tilted, and Annie suddenly felt foolish. Maybe she was assuming too much. Maybe he had just come here to tell her that he didn't want to be friends. All the hopes that she had built up from yesterday started to burst like balloons. She tried to swallow past the lump forming in her throat as she lowered the sandwich.

"I saw on a TV show once that when someone does something nice for you, it's a good idea to do something nice for them back," Abed suddenly declared. "You were nice to me yesterday. So I want to give you this."

He pulled a long ribbon out of his jeans pocket and put it on the table in front of her. She reached out tentatively and picked it up, examining it closer. It was yellow, with little white dots all over it.

When she looked up at Abed, he was watching her expectantly.

"I found it in my mom's sewing box, and I thought you might like it because it's the same colour as the sweater you were wearing yesterday," he explained.

Annie beamed at him, touched both by his gift and the fact that he had noticed something about her. She was used to being invisible, forgettable, but Abed had seen her and remembered her.

"I love it," she told him eagerly. "Thank you."

Reaching up, she tied it in a big, bright bow around her ponytail. It probably didn't match her flowery red dress, but she didn't care.

"So, what TV show was it?" she asked him as she offered him the half-sandwich again, which he took without hesitation. His eyes lit up at the mention of television.

This time, they talked as they ate her lunch together, and Annie knew that this was what it felt like to have a friend.

_Fin_


End file.
